This invention relates to a method and means for testing soils, and more particularly, to a method and means for testing soils by measuring the rate of moisture loss from soil or sediment samples.
The engineering and agronomic usefulness of a given soil is controlled by the mineralogic composition and fabric or structure of the soil. Present practice requires techniques such as differential thermal analysis, x-ray diffraction or wet chemistry for mineralogical analysis and adsorption isotherm studies, mercury porosimetry, light microscopy or electron microscopy for fabric analysis. All these techniques require expensive instrumentation, considerable time, and highly skilled operators for testing soils. Another problem faced by engineers is the change in physical state of a soil as the moisture content changes. This problem has been answered previously with the use of Atterberg limits tests which are based upon highly empirical and somewhat arbitrary testing procedures. The results of Atterberg limit tests are subject to operator variation and are time-consuming.